Sudan bans two newspapers for coverage of post-Garang riots

KHARTOUM, Aug 6 (AFP) — Sudanese authorities banned two independent newspapers Saturday for their coverage of the three days of deadly riots that followed the death of southern leader John Garang, their management said.

Khartoum State security officials raided the presses of the Al-Watan and Alwan newspapers at dawn and confiscated the entire print run, staff said.

Al-Watan deputy editor Mustafa Abul Azim said his paper might have been banned because of an editorial criticizing the governor of Khartoum for his handling of the riots.

The editorial accused the governor of not responding promptly or with adequate force to quell the violence that erupted after Garang’s death in a helicopter crash last Saturday.

Southerners, convinced that the crash was no accident, looted and vandalized businesses and property owned by northern Arabs. More than 110 people died in the capital alone.

The violence also extended to towns in the south, including the capital Juba, where rioters targeted northern Arab traders, forcing hundreds to flee to Khartoum.

The management of the Alwan newspaper told AFP the Islamist daily was probably banned because of an editorial arguing that southerners in the north should be treated in the same way as they treated northerners in the south.

The piece also called for the deportation of all southerners from the north.